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Wuchang 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller Gets Big Discount At Amazon
Game Updates

Wuchang 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller Gets Big Discount At Amazon

by admin August 31, 2025



The Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Edition of 8BitDo’s flagship Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller looks pretty awesome. It’s important to note that this version of the Ultimate 2 is a 2.4GHz wireless controller for PC and Mac. It also has Android support via Bluetooth. PS5 and Xbox Series X users will not be able to use this controller to play the game–unless you play it via remote play on your PC or Android device.

The Ultimate 2 launched earlier this year with an MSRP of $60, so this special-edition model only costs five bucks more than one of the standard variants.

We’ve tested the Ultimate 2 and the Ultimate 2 Bluetooth–which has Switch 2 and Switch support–and it’s better than many controllers that cost two or three times its price.

The Ultimate 2 has TMR electromagnetic analog sticks–smoother and more reliable than Hall Effect sensors–two remappable back buttons, two extra remappable bumpers, trigger locks, and RGB lighting rings.

It also has 6-axis motion controls, rumble, and a turbo button. With 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software V2, you can create three custom profiles to cycle through on the fly, adjust stick and trigger sensitivity, create dead zones, and more.

The Ultimate 2 comes with a matching charging dock. In this case, the character art continues from the controller to the dock, making it a pretty cool display piece.

This isn’t the first official collaboration with a big new release. Last year, 8BitDo collaborated with Game Science on a Black Myth: Wukong Ultimate 2C Controller. The 2C is 8BitDo’s budget PC controller, so this new collaboration is more exciting. That said, 8BitDo’s Wukong-themed controller is still worth checking out, especially since you get the wireless model for only $23.79 (was $35) and the wired edition for $12 right now.

Key Features

  • PC and Mac: 2.4GHz Wireless (USB-C dongle)
  • Android: Bluetooth
  • TMR electromagnetic analog sticks
  • Hall Effect triggers with adjustable stop point
  • 2 remappable back triggers
  • 2 extra remappable shoulder buttons
  • Tactile bumpers
  • RGB lighting rings
  • 1,000Hz polling rate for 2.4GHz and wired
  • 6-axis motion controls
  • Rumble
  • Turbo button
  • 1,000mAh battery
  • Includes matching USB-C charging dock

Customize with 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2

  • Remap inputs
  • Set up three custom profiles
  • Set up dead zones
  • Adjust motion control sensitivity
  • Adjust stick sensitivity
  • Adjust trigger sensitivity
  • Adjust rumble intensity
  • Adjust lighting effects



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Binge Gaming May Be Bad For You, According To New Study
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Binge Gaming May Be Bad For You, According To New Study

by admin August 31, 2025



Long-term binge gaming and internet gaming disorder are still relatively new phenomena that aren’t fully understood yet. However, a recently released study examined the effects of binge gaming on both boys and girls, and the results demonstrated that males have a greater chance of developing the addiction-like symptoms of IGD if they play games for five hours or longer at a time.

PLOS recently shared a 2022 Hong Kong-based study that was compiled using male and female schoolchildren. For the purposes of this report, smartphone gaming and PC gaming were both counted towards the length of a binge session.

The study was comprised of 2,000 students from primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, with a median age of 12 years old. According to the findings, 38% of boys self-reported binge gaming, while only 24% of girls did the same. The results also suggested that male players who engaged in binge gaming were more likely than females to experience IGD, depression, stress, poor sleep quality and “lower educational self-efficacy.”

Because of the small sampling group, the results of this study are far from definitive. However, they do suggest that there’s a real gender gap between males and females suffering from the negative side effects of binge gaming. The study also noted that non-binge gamer boys and non-gamer girls both had lower levels of stress, anxiety, grief, and depression than non-binge gamer girls.

The study concludes that interventions for treating IGD and binge gaming should be gender-specific in order to address the potential mental and physical health risks that come with them. More studies are likely to be conducted in the future to examine these results and build upon the report’s findings.



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Skyblivion project lead says release date reveal's finally getting "closer", as Oblivion remake mod shows off revamped intro
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Skyblivion project lead says release date reveal’s finally getting “closer”, as Oblivion remake mod shows off revamped intro

by admin August 31, 2025


Watch out, there’s a goblin over there! Have you dispatched him with a deceased Blade’s rusty blade? Good, we can now keep trekking through the revamped Imperial sewers dungeon that unofficial Oblivion remake Skyblivion’s devs have just shown off.

The massive Skyrim mod’s getting ever closer to the release its creators have pencilled in for later this year. Despite that looming, they’ve not opted to skip what’s become an annual cameo at fan-run Skyrim modding showcase Creation Mod Con, alongside a bunch of other in-the-works Elder Scrolls remake projects and add-ons.

I spoke to Skyblivion project lead Kyle ‘Rebelzize’ Rebel ahead of Creation Mod Con about where the modders are at in terms of announcing the mod’s full release date. “Progress is generally good, volunteer based projects are always a challenge due to people sometimes dropping out or not having as much time to contribute as in the past,” he told me. “To work around that we try as much as possible to keep the project a bit flexible and change our MVP (minimum viable product) according to the team’s capability. I’d say recent developments made us come closer to a potential date announcement, but we will be able to share more about that at a later date.”

The team also revealed that in addition to the GOG release they announced back in June, a release via Nexus Mods is also locked in and there are plans to offer the mod for free via Steam too. I’m intrigued to see how that last one might differ from the other two.

Watch on YouTube

Anyway, the modders showed off the opening 15 minutes of Skyblivion in this latest showcase. Big spoiler alert – the sequence sees some youths in hoodies harass Patrick Stewart into freeing Nirn’s ugliest prisoner before departing to go and voice a sentient poo in the Emoji Movie several years down the line.

I’m not joking about it being Patrick Stewart that does this, as shown a recent dev diary, Skyblivion’s Uriel Septim is his regal spitting image. As for the iconic series of corridors in which he’s shanked up while you decide whether you’re going to default to a sneak build for the hundredth time, Skyblivion’s devs said they’ve opted to keep things “closer to the original experience” at the start so players can get up to speed with the mod’s combo of Skyrim and Oblivion mechanics.

Though, lest you forget this is remake rather than a remaster, something the modders have understandably been keen to stress since the official Oblivion remaster rocked up through a flaming gate earlier this year, there are plenty of the sort of tweaks and touches that’ve left me generally more curious to play this interpretation than Bethesda and Virtuos’ efforts.

As you battle through the caves, there are goblin cave paintings and brief glimpses of the White-Gold Tower to ensure the background’s more than a plain brown mush. They’re subtle elements, designed by modders Anna Khudorenko and Penrutet respectively, but I’m hoping they’ll keep the experience feeling a bit fresher than the remaster’s intentionally minimalistic reskinning.

That said, the fresh addition I dug most from what the modders showed off here is the first look at the Imperial Mausoleum, a hall in the Arboretum where Emperor Stewart’s body will now be interred once he meets his demise. The Skyblivion crew tell RPS this was designed by Gabriele Floris, aka Kazuhide. They’ve lent their two architecture degrees to shaping the mod’s version of Cyrodiil’s capital, with real life mock-ups for a restoration of the Roman Emperor Augustus’ mausoleum being cited as the inspiration for Uriel’s resting place.

This Septim tomb’s just one aspect of what you can expect from the mod’s total revamp of the city. “We’ve really set out to entirely remake the Imperial City to be the grand cosmopolitan city it is known as in lore – that means every district is substantially larger and more detailed,” Rebel tells me.

Skyblivion’s still looking for volunteers with the skills to help get it over the line.



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Star Wars Outlaws Out On Switch 2 In Days And Footage Is Being Kept Secret
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Star Wars Outlaws Out On Switch 2 In Days And Footage Is Being Kept Secret

by admin August 31, 2025


Star Wars Outlaws is coming to Switch 2 in just a few days. It’s Ubisoft’s first big port for Nintendo’s new handheld hybrid. So why isn’t the company talking more about its 2024 blockbuster coming to the best-selling console of 2025? Maybe because it’s the latest Switch 2 port to reportedly run less than great.

Star Wars Outlaws, a stealth adventure about gangsters and bounty hunters on the fringes of the Galactic Empire, is currently the 10th best-selling game on the Switch 2 eShop thanks to digital pre-orders, but you won’t find it anywhere on the show floor at PAX West this weekend. Despite stations for fans to try big ports like Elden Ring and Borderlands 4 on Nintendo’s new hardware, a demo of Star Wars Outlaws was only playable behind closed doors, according to YouTube channel GVG‘s new hands-on video.

Even worse, the outlet was prohibited from sharing any direct capture footage of Star Wars Outlaws running on Switch 2. Over-the-shoulder recording wasn’t allowed either. The demo GVG tested included an early section inside of a Star Destroyer and a ship fight in space. The frame rate often appeared to dip below 30fps while the visual quality varied from good to unimpressive depending on the scene. And GVG didn’t even get to try any of the open-world sections down on planets.

There have been some potential red flags around Star Wars Outlaws‘ performance on Switch 2 for a while now. At a Partner Nintendo Direct earlier this summer, Ubisoft only showcased the game for two minutes, and most of that was developers (Ubisoft Red Lynx is doing the port) talking into the camera rather than direct feed of gameplay. What little snippets the publisher did share didn’t look outstanding either. Digital Foundry pointed to some impressive lighting effects at the time, but was left mostly with concerns about just how downgraded it would be from the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions.

How will Assassin’s Creed Shadows run on Switch 2?

While not officially confirmed, reading between the lines of recent Ubisoft earnings calls leaves the strong impression that Star Wars Outlaws isn’t the only current-gen exclusive the company is planning to port to Switch 2. Assassin’s Creed Shadows sounds destined to arrive eventually as well. Has Ubisoft been investing more resources in optimizing that port, knowing it’s the bigger franchise, at the cost of quietly leaving Outlaws to flounder a second time (remember, Shadows was originally delayed precisely because of Outlaws launch struggles last year)?

Right now, there are basically two buckets of third-party Switch 2 ports. One includes Cyberpunk 2077 and Street Fighter 6, which rarely remind you that you’re playing on weaker hardware than what the games were originally designed for. The other includes stuff like Hitman World of Assassination, which despite being serviceable, often feels like a noticeable downgrade (though things improved just this week with a capped frame rate option).

Elden Ring, which reportedly ran like goop when you hit the open-world sections, and now Star Wars Outlaws appear to be in that second bucket as well. Bandai Namco tried to prevent people from filming footage of FromSoftware’s first Switch 2 game at Gamescom 2025 as well, though that game at least doesn’t have a release date yet. Unless a day-one patch or series of other upgrades can improve Outlaws on Switch 2, there’s now a question of whether a potential Shadows port will fall into the “meh” column of ports as well.



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August 31, 2025 0 comments
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First Metal Gear Solid Delta Update Addresses Crashing Issues And Floating-Snake Bug
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First Metal Gear Solid Delta Update Addresses Crashing Issues And Floating-Snake Bug

by admin August 31, 2025



Konami has released the first update for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater on all platforms. The patch notes mainly detail fixes for crashing issues that occur in specific situations for the stealth game, though there is a silly bug addressed that sees Snake floating in midair.

Metal Gear Solid Delta players could previously see Snake hovering above the ground sometimes by “transitioning from a roll into a crawl.” Overall, the update for the game brings it up to version 1.1.2. The patch actually rolled out yesterday, August 28, on Steam, while it’s going live today on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

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Now Playing: Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Review

Earlier this week, The Boss voice actress Lori Alan marked the launch of Metal Gear Solid Delta by dressing up as the character she first helped bring to life in 2004’s PS2 classic. The new game utilizes the original’s voice recordings (except in a few spots), something that Snake voice actor David Hayter wished he could have changed. Meanwhile, the developers behind Metal Gear Solid Delta hope series creator Hideo Kojima sees how “respectful” it is.

Looking ahead, the game will get a hide-and-seek multiplayer mode called Fox Hunt in the fall. For more, check out GameSpot’s Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater review. The full patch notes are below:

Version 1.1.2 Patch Notes

  • Resolved an issue where performing consecutive survival knife attacks to secure food could cause the game to crash under certain conditions.
  • Fixed an issue where removing the Crocodile Cap from the Survival Viewer while equipped could cause the game to crash under certain conditions.
  • Addressed crashes that could occur when collecting food near a hungry crocodile under certain conditions.
  • Corrected an issue where transitioning from a roll into a crawl could cause the character model to float in midair.
  • Fixed an issue where player movement could become restricted under certain conditions in areas where Intrusion View is used.
  • Resolved an issue where the game could crash under certain conditions while in Radio Window.



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August 31, 2025 0 comments
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Escape from Tarkov is coming to Steam
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Escape from Tarkov is coming to Steam

by admin August 31, 2025


Escape from Tarkov is coming to Steam.

Rumours began to swirl when Battlestate’s head of studio, Nikita Buyanov, posted a captionless gif to X/Twitter over the weekend showing an old man delightedly holding down the steam button on his iron.

Let’s Play Escape From Tarkov closed beta gameplay – HOW LONG CAN IAN SURVIVE ON INSANE DIFFICULTY?!Watch on YouTube


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Definitive proof? Hardly, even if Buyanov were willing to troll his own playerbase. Fast-forward to today, though – 31st August – and it’s confirmed: Escape from Tarkov is coming to Steam.


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The page has yet to go live on Valve’s digital store, so we’re yet to get any of the specific details, but Buyanov shared an image of the Steam logo superimposed on a Steam listing for Escape from Tarkov (see above), and wrote: “Yes! The page on Steam will be available soon. All the details later.”

The Steam launch could coincide with another milestone for Battlestate – version 1.0 the tactical FPS will finally release on 15th November, 2025.

Last year, Escape from Tarkov developer Battlestate apologised after it u-turned on a decision to lock an “exclusive” PvE mode to its €300 Unheard Edition following player feedback, saying it is “very sorry that fans and the game community in general are experiencing these feelings”.



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Honkai: Nexus Anima Revealed, Here's How To Sign Up For Its Beta Test
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Honkai: Nexus Anima Revealed, Here’s How To Sign Up For Its Beta Test

by admin August 31, 2025



HoYoverse will soon enough be adding yet another genre to its growing list of gacha games, this time in the form of a new game called Honkai: Nexus Anima. This one might interest Pokemon fans as it is a creator collector, though it looks like it’ll differ from the Nintendo series in a few key ways. And, if it takes your fancy, you can even sign up to take part in its first Nexus Bond Test.

First up are some of the big differences. For starters, the combat system is completely different. Where Pokemon sees you pitting your pocket monsters generally 1v1, each of them with four moves to choose, Honkai: Nexus Anima’s main combat system looks closer to an auto battler like Auto Chess or Teamfight Tactics.

You also seemingly get to play as Anima–this game’s titular equivalent to Pokemon–in varying ways. That includes a racing minigame, a minigame where you shoot at beach balls, and another where you … destroy an office building! There appears to be a range of customization options for your player character, but you can also seemingly play as different characters too. And like in more recent Pokemon games, you can ride different Anima to get around the game’s world.

To take part in the beta test for the game, all you need to do is head to its official website, click the Join Test button, and log in to your HoYoverse account. You’ll then be asked to fill in a questionnaire, which will ask you about the kind of device you’re playing on, other games you play, and how much you typically spend on games in general.

It’s worth noting that the test is only on iOS and PC, and will have Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean as language options–more languages are planned to be added in the future.

The test is live now and is running until September 12. A release date for the full game hasn’t been revealed just yet.



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August 31, 2025 0 comments
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Avast Software
Game Updates

Forget the Free Version, Avast Slashes 60% Off Its Two Suites That Secure Your Entire Online Life

by admin August 31, 2025


A computer is not just a bright new device: it’s also an entrance to your entire digital life. But with that entrance comes the threat of dark unseen dangers: hackers, scams, and viruses just waiting to leap at the most inconvenient time. And with Labor Day weekend and back-to-school season already upon us, there’s no better time to lock down your digital life with strong protection that works behind the scenes.

Right now, Avast is offering a fantastic deal with up to 60% off its security products, making it easier than ever to secure your devices without stretching your budget. Avast Premium Security is available for just $31.20 for the first year ($2,60 a month) for one device. But if you’re looking to protect the whole family or all your gadgets, their 10-device plan wraps your laptops, phones and tablets under one simple subscription.

See at Avast Premium Security

Protects Your Digital Life

So, just what does Avast Premium Security do, then? It’s a lot more than your average antivirus: It prevents viruses, malware, and ransomware from causing harm. It also catches phishing scams that want you to give up sensitive information. And it blocks remote access attacks and keeps would-be digital hijackers at bay. Whether you’re buying online, streaming, banking, or just browsing, Avast Premium Security operates behind the scenes keeping everything private and secure.

If you desire the ultimate peace of mind, Avast Ultimate is where it’s at – and it’s currently on sale at $3.67 per month (60% off). You get all Premium Security features, plus Avast SecureLine VPN which keeps your internet connection safe and your identity hidden (just the thing when you’re browsing public Wi-Fi). And then there’s Cleanup Premium which streamlines and optimizes your PC by deleting junk files and speeds things up.

See at Avast Ultimate

So the choice between Premium Security and Ultimate ultimately comes down to what you’re looking for: For superb malware, ransomware, and phishing protection, Premium Security is sufficient. But if you also want extra privacy, advanced device cleaning, and VPN protection, Ultimate offers those extras in one powerful bundle. No matter your choice, Avast is a security leader you can trust and protects hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide. Those days of the “free antivirus” are over—it’s an entire suite of tools for today’s world of connectivity.

See at Avast.com



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New Borderlands 4 Trailer Urges You To Quit Earth, And I Really Wish I Could
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New Borderlands 4 Trailer Urges You To Quit Earth, And I Really Wish I Could

by admin August 31, 2025



Borderlands 4 is just days away from launching, and to kick off the next era of the looter-shooter, developer Gearbox has released a new live-action trailer urging people to “quit” Earth and head to Kairos. Sure, Kairos is a planet ruled by an all-powerful dictator who enforces his whims on the population with invasive behavior-altering technology that has a high likelihood of killing you if it’s removed, but compared to everything else happening right now–*frantically waves arms*–that’s not a dealbreaker.

The gap between Borderlands 4 being officially announced and its arrival on PC and console has been relatively short. Gearbox first showed off the game–after hinting at it for months–during the 2024 edition of Gamescom Opening Night Live, teasing a new world for Vault Hunters to explore and even more loot to grab as they fight against the sinister forces in control of Kairos.

The last few months have seen Gearbox reveal a substantial number of details about the game, including detailed looks at the four Vault Hunters players will have the option of playing as. There’s the science-powered Harlowe, walking Tediore weapons advert Rafa, not-so-gentle giant Amon, and the Siren Vex for this new adventure.

Gearbox also recently spoke about the tone of the game, and how the studio strived to create a grounded sense of humor. Surprisingly, the Borderlands 3 expansions served as a big source of inspiration. Borderlands 4 launches on September 12 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, with a Switch 2 version arriving in October.



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25 Years Later, Valkyrie Profile Remains One Of The Greatest Cult JRPG Classics
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25 Years Later, Valkyrie Profile Remains One Of The Greatest Cult JRPG Classics

by admin August 31, 2025



Valkyrie Profile is celebrating its 25-year anniversary today, August 29, 2025. Below, we look back at why the RPG went overlooked at the time, and what makes it still stand out as special today.

It’s not hard to see why Valkyrie Profile wound up overlooked in its initial North American release. Japanese publisher Enix had only recently revived its US branch, likely due to both the surge of popularity of JRPGs in the post-Final Fantasy 7 era and the success Sony had licensing and releasing Star Ocean: The Second Story globally. But it was going to be an uphill struggle to get a new PS1 RPG any traction, even one made by Star Ocean 2 developer Tri-Ace. The Dreamcast was already out, the US launch of the PS2 was less than two months away, and Squaresoft had dropped Chrono Cross, a follow-up to the beloved Chrono Trigger, a couple of weeks earlier.

It was my freshman year of college, the weekend just before my birthday, and I wanted a new RPG to keep me occupied between classes. I had two choices: Valkyrie Profile or Chrono Cross. After having a delightful experience with Star Ocean 2 the summer before, my gut was telling me that Valkyrie Profile was the one I should pick.

I have never once regretted my purchase. Valkyrie Profile was–and still is–one of the greatest RPGs of its era, a game that–despite universal acclaim from its many devoted fans–remains criminally underplayed. It’s been 25 years, and there’s still nothing else that captures the same magic.

The enhanced port Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

As you might surmise from the title, Valkyrie Profile’s setting is built around concepts inspired by Norse mythology–with a good deal of creative wiggle room, of course. Lenneth, the titular Valkyrie, has been summoned to the service of the great god Odin, ruler of the heavenly realm of Asgard. He has learned that the mythical Ragnarok is nigh, and between that and the Aesir gods’ struggle with the Vanir heating up, they need manpower in the form of worthy human souls: einherjar. Lenneth must find the worthy souls of the recently departed on the lower plane of Midgard to train and transfer to Asgard before the gods’ final confrontation. There are also plenty of messes on Midgard to clean up, however–the undead seeping in from Niflheim, a rebellious former einherjar, and humans overstepping their boundaries.

It’s clear from the outset that, in contrast to the gilded realm of the gods, Midgard is a den of abject misery. Villages exist on the brink of catastrophic collapse. Desperation has led to many partaking in dangerous activities to make a living. Illicit trades like smuggling, thievery, and even human trafficking thrive in this harsh, bleak realm, and many seem to live day to day with one foot already in the grave. You can’t help but wonder if the cataclysm of Ragnarok might be a small mercy to end all the suffering that’s seen.

Lenneth, with the gift of spiritual concentration, can sense the struggles and anguish of the departed. When she comes to take their soul under her wing, she sees what their final days of existence were like, their tragic fates laid bare. Her first recruits involve a haughty princess and a gruff mercenary who find themselves caught up in a convoluted plot by a traitorous noble–one that dooms them both. More tragedies follow. A warrior strikes a faustian bargain to cure his sister’s blindness, only to perish at the hands of his inner demons. A headmistress at a magic academy finds herself slaughtered by her own husband, transformed into a monster by a vengeful student. Those are just a handful. Not every death feels undeserved, as not everyone who Lenneth recruits is a particularly good person. It’s their usefulness to Odin that matters–and Lenneth can help shape them into the perfect fighters.

Knowledge of Midgard’s geopolitical environment can be gleaned from the interwoven sagas of the departed, and while the gods generally care little about most human affairs, Lenneth encounters numerous personalities that shake up her ongoing mission. There’s an einherjar who seems oddly familiar with Lenneth. Then there’s Brahms, the lord of the undead, who appears to hold someone important to Lenneth and the gods hostage to prevent them from destroying him. And, of course, sorcerer wunderkind Lezard Valeth: The only thing worse than his creepy obsession with making the Valkyrie “his” are the immoral means he’ll stoop to to make that happen.

The ever-present tragedy of Valkyrie Profile helps set it apart from most other RPGs of the era, but a lot of what makes it feel special to this day are its unique interlocking gameplay mechanics. One of these is the game’s distinct structure. Exploration is largely freeform, allowing you to visit areas, recruit einherjar, and delve into dungeons when you see fit. Progression is instead dictated by a timer system: The game’s chapters are divided into a set number of “periods,” and actions–recruitment, exploration, resting–all have a set time cost. When you reach the end of that chapter’s periods, Lenneth receives an evaluation from Asgard. Actions performed during the chapter, such as sending suitable einherjar and lost artifacts to Asgard, count towards your evaluation. Perform well, and you get rewarded. Then you move on to the next chapter. While some characters and areas only become available in certain chapters, you’re usually not obligated to complete anything as soon as it appears, giving you a lot of freedom.

Another defining gameplay characteristic are the dungeons. These are presented as 2D, sidescrolling platformer-style affairs, laden with traps, enemies, jumps, and gimmicks. They often feature bespoke obstacles and tricks that Lenneth will need to overcome, adding an element of puzzle-solving to the platforming action. Fortunately, Lenneth has a handy little tool to help: a crystal projectile. This offers a wide variety of uses: temporarily freezing enemies, creating barriers and platforms, even refracting light or manipulating objects from afar. She can also perform advanced movement techniques by building and shattering crystals in various ways, propelling her into hidden enclaves (and allowing for some fun speed tech).

But Valkyrie Profile’s most memorably distinctive element is its combat. Tri-Ace’s previous Star Ocean games added an element of action gameplay to the usual RPG proceedings, and Valkyrie Profile does something similar in concept, yet entirely different in execution. Each turn of combat sees you controlling four characters, one assigned to each face button. Depending on the weapons you’ve equipped, each character will have access to certain set attacks, which they will execute when you press a button. Some attacks have special properties, such as breaking an enemy’s guard or launching them airborne for juggles. Land enough hits in a turn and you’ll fill a gauge, allowing you to unleash one of your party member’s ultimate attacks. With some strategy and practice, you can learn to chain combos and supers similarly to the way you would in a fighting game.

However, the enemies won’t always make it easy–they’ll guard, parry, and sidestep when they can, upsetting your combat flow and making them much more challenging to slay. Observing and figuring out the properties of your attacks–how they hit, how many hits they have, if they can juggle or damage enemies on the ground–is crucial to both defeat strong enemies and earn lots of post-combat rewards. Learning how the enemies react to your attacks and conduct offense on their turn is important, as well, since you can also dodge, counter, and guard, provided you’ve got the appropriate skills. As cool as this might sound, I’m actually oversimplifying the combat: There’s a tremendous amount of skill and nuance here that will challenge RPG vets and seasoned action-game players alike.

An in-depth skill system bolsters Valkyrie Profile’s gameplay depth. Not only does learning skills help characters in combat, but they also raise characters’ Hero Value and give them positive traits, making them more suitable for service in Valhalla. Passive character skills grant stat boosts, remove negative character traits, and tend to come as specific requests from the gods. Combat skills include auto-heals and low-HP survival techniques, counterattacks, added effects to normal strikes (like splash damage and extra hits), and powerful techniques to catch enemies unaware.

The enhanced port Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

WARNING: Spoilers for Valkyrie Profile’s ending, including its true ending, follow.

Everything culminates in the game’s final chapter, where Lenneth leads the einherjar in an assault on the Vanir stronghold. When she emerges triumphant, you might expect a glorious celebration in Valhalla. But that’s not what you get. The ending you receive for this stellar performance is… bland. And short. Eerily so, as if there’s something being hidden from you. And there is! Valkyrie Profile is a multi-ending game, and part of why it remains so strongly in the memory of players is the trick it pulls on them.

The key to obtaining the true, best ending in the game is a radical departure from what players are often led to expect. It’s easy to assume that performing the tasks the game sets out for you exceptionally well would yield greater rewards, and thus, a better ending. But that’s not what Valkyrie Profile does. Instead, Valkyrie Profile wants you to question and doubt your assigned task.

There are hints throughout that Odin and the gods are not entirely noble, seeing humanity as merely useful tools for their battle and service. By strictly following the orders that Odin has given her, Lenneth plays right into his hands, acting as his obedient pawn. But what if Lenneth disobeyed? Obviously, outright rebellion under the watchful eye of a powerful god would put her directly in his crosshairs for elimination.

What the player must do to free Lenneth from Odin’s control is stage small acts of rebellion over time: sending up only the required number of einherjar, deciding to keep some of the gods’ sacred treasures found in dungeons, visiting places tied to a forgotten past. Even the simple act of removing the ring Odin bestowed upon Lenneth when consulting with Asgard between chapters will help break his sway over her. Lower the Seal Value enough, and when you enter a certain area in Chapter 7, a series of dramatic events will occur, ushering in a moment of reckoning for Lenneth with the fate of all the realms hanging in the balance.

The unique requirements to access this ending was quite a shock to players when the game first released, and even now, it stands out. We’re conditioned to do what we’re told will get us praise and rewards in games, rarely stopping to question why we’re doing it. Valkyrie Profile, in contrast, only reveals the full truth about its world to those who deliberately and defiantly play around its core systems.

Valkyrie Profile has had sequels, spin-offs, and spiritual successors, as well as giving inspiration to many games that followed. Some of these games have been excellent in their own right, others not so much. But all of the games that have come since have deviated in some way from the original gameplay elements that helped make Valkyrie Profile the fantastic experience that it is. Perhaps it’s just a case of lighting in a bottle–the world of games and game development have changed so much since its original release that you can’t recapture the same magic. That’s why its lack of availability on modern platforms is so tragic: only a compromised mobile port and a PS4/5 re-release of the PSP version exist. I can only hope that changes eventually, because there’s nothing else like Valkyrie Profile, and there probably never will be. When I first played it all those years ago on PS1, I was entranced. A quarter of a century later, I still am.



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August 31, 2025 0 comments
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